BLACK Bar will be shuttering at the end of April, marking an end to the women-owned space that has defined the corner of Broadway and Hermosa Avenue for nearly a decade. The specific date is yet to be determined but will be announced through their social media. Come post-escrow, Pamela and Joshua Beadel—the hospitality workers-turned-owners who operate The Breakfast Bar’s two locations—will be taking the place the over.
“We, sadly, had to sell it,” co-owner Shannon McManus said. “It’s been, frankly put, just rough: The combination of ever-increasing operational costs and the fact that the damage of the pandemic never really mended… It’s made it impossible to continue.”
What BLACK Bar’s Long Beach location was—and its role in the larger picture of the neighborhood.
Bethany Black and Shannon McManus, owners of Black in Hollywood, are a pair of nighttime veterans when it comes to the bar scene in Los Angeles, with McManus having operated the famed Viper Room from 1993 to 1998, where Bethany also worked; following, they ran the Darkroom on Melrose. It wasn’t until 2013 that BLACK in Hollywood became their focus (bringing on skating photographer Atiba Jefferson on as an investor).
Atiba admitted that BLACK itself was modeled after New York’s famed Max Fish, which opened in 1989, closed momentarily in 2010, and reopened to keep its constant presence of skaters, creatives, the Intelligentsia, and of course, the varied assortment of grin-inducing derelicts.
“I think every bar wants to be the Fish,” Jefferson said. “I’ve been to a lot of bars you know, and there’s always a skate bar in every town from Paris to Australia, whether it’s Changelings in Sydney—skaters like to drink and have a good time and there’s always that spot you need to go to.”
BLACK took over a queer space—and why that is important.
Longtime queer bar and restaurant Paradise Bar & Restaurant was a staple in Long Beach’s gayborhood—and it was the space that occupied BLACK Bar before it took over. Owned by real estate agent and Falcon bar owner Michael Barber for over three decades, Paradise had provided a safe haven for piano-loving queers since the 1980s, marking the easternmost end of the Broadway strip’s gay scene.
The purchase of the Paradise space by BLACK back in 2018 raised many eyebrows. And rightfully so for two reasons: a well-known queer establishment in Long Beach wasn’t being taken over by another Long Beach bar—in the sense that it could become a sister bar to another Broadway joint a la Sweet Water and Broadway Bar—and that BLACK itself wasn’t an LGBTQ establishment.
But BLACK put in the work, catering to the many communities of Long Beach—especially the queer and female community. And the history it brought—with it’s now-shuttered and famed Hollywood space of the same name—is something of note, surely. But even more? The trio invested in a space and neighborhood where increasing empty store fronts and a lack of patronage made it feel empty long before the pandemic. They deserve our applause and support until the end, as well as a thank you.
What do the owners of The Breakfast Bar have in plan for BLACK Bar Long Beach?
“Let’s just say this: We are extremely excited to be apart of the gayborhood.”
These are the words of Joshua Beadel, co-owner of The Breakfast Bar with his wife, Pamela. And his use of “gayborhood” already feels like a warm hug given the Long Beach natives have been staples in the local hospitality scene. (Including Joshua’s own stint as a bartender at Hamburger Mary’s.) But that’s all they’re gonna say for now.
The larger point? These allies (already big givers in the community) are strong business operators—and the space can only benefit from having them on board.
Time to say goodbye to BLACK Bar.
In the world of shuttering businesses, that ultimately means that when it comes to women-owned businesses, that number dramatically decreases with it. BLACK Bar is one such example. As I said previously, they deserve our applause and support until the end, as well as a thank you.
“We are so proud of what we accomplished and happy that we’ve been able to give back to the community through various fundraisers,” the owners shared on Instagram. “We will always remain grateful to the Long Beach community for the time we had and connections made. Thank you. We will announce our final day in the coming weeks and we hope you’ll spend some time with us before we close our doors the final time. Lastly, we implore you to support small businesses. Unless you have one and managed to make it through the pandemic years, you can’t imagine the hard work it took to keep going over the last 5 years. Small businesses are the heartbeat of this country, it is the place where human connections are made. We must fight to keep them alive. Thank you for supporting us all these years.”
BLACK Bar is located at 1800 E. Broadway.
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Glad to see the ugly bar go! We miss the Paradise!